Well, I hope everyone is enjoying their time at home as much as they can, considering the circumstances… I also hope that this will help give people something to look forward to in May!
May will be Edward G. Robinson month. He definitely had some classic mystery and mystery-ish movies, so there should be plenty to look forward to there!
Here are the Turner Classic Movies channel’s mystery movies that I was able to find which will air during May 2020.
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – May 2
1:15 AM
MANIAC (1963)
A beautiful woman seduces a drifter so he can help free her murderous husband from an insane asylum.
Dir: Michael Carreras
BW- 86 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
2:45 AM
STOP ME BEFORE I KILL (1961)
After surviving an accident, a race car driver begins to suffer violent impulses.
Dir: Val Guest Cast: Claude Dauphin, Diane Cilento, Ronald Lewis.
BW- 108 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
7:28 AM
YOU CAN’T BUY LUCK (1937)
A racehorse owner tries to buy victory by performing good deeds, but gets mixed up in murder instead.
Dir: Lew Landers Cast: Onslow Stevens, Helen Mack, Vinton Haworth.
BW- 60 mins, CC
11:00 PM
FALLEN ANGEL (1945)
A man is accused of killing a waitress he had tried to seduce with his wife’s money.
Dir: Otto Preminger Cast: Alice Faye, Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell.
BW- 97 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – May 3
5:00 AM
AFTER THE THIN MAN (1936)
Married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles try to clear Nora’s cousin of a murder charge.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart.
BW- 112 mins, CC
9:00 AM
FALLEN ANGEL (1945)
A man is accused of killing a waitress he had tried to seduce with his wife’s money.
Dir: Otto Preminger Cast: Alice Faye, Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell.
BW- 97 mins, CC
8:30 PM
THE SIN OF NORA MORAN (1933)
Dir: Phil Goldstone Cast: Cora Sue Collins, Zita Johann, Alan Dinehart.
BW- 65 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – May 6
12:15 PM
FAST AND FURIOUS (1939)
Married book-dealers Joel and Garda Sloane get mixed up with murder during a beauty pageant.
Dir: Busby Berkeley Cast: Franchot Tone, Ann Sothern, Ruth Hussey.
BW- 73 mins, CC
8:00 PM
PICCADILLY (1929)
In this silent film, the dancers at a London nightclub get wrapped up in jealousy and murder.
Dir: E. A. Dupont Cast: Charles Laughton,
BW- 109 mins
10:00 PM
DAUGHTER OF SHANGHAI (1937)
A young woman tracks down the smugglers who killed her father.
Dir: Robert Florey Cast: Anna May Wong, Charles Bickford, Larry Crabbe.
BW- 62 mins
11:30 PM
PHANTOM OF CHINATOWN (1940)
Asian sleuth Mr. Wong fights to keep a killer from winning control of a rich oil deposit.
Dir: Phil Rosen Cast: Keye Luke, Grant Withers, Lotus Long.
BW- 62 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – May 7
1:00 AM
THE LETTER (1940)
A woman claims to have killed in self-defense, until a blackmailer turns up with incriminating evidence.
Dir: William Wyler Cast: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson.
BW- 95 mins, CC
6:45 AM
THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN (1960)
A veteran recruits a group of disgraced colleagues to perform a bank robber.
Dir: Basil Dearden Cast: Jack Hawkins, Nigel Patrick, Roger Livesey.
BW- 114 mins, CC
8:45 AM
THE SECRET PARTNER (1961)
A shipping tycoon with a record becomes a suspect when money goes missing from the company vault.
Dir: Basil Dearden Cast: Stewart Granger, Haya Harareet, Bernard Lee.
BW- 91 mins, CC
10:30 AM
VICTIM (1961)
A closeted lawyer risks his career to bring a blackmailer to justice.
Dir: Basil Dearden Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Sylvia Syms, Dennis Price.
BW- 100 mins, CC
2:15 PM
WOMAN OF STRAW (1964)
A rich old man’s nurse and his nephew plot his murder.
Dir: Basil Dearden Cast: Gina Lollobrigida, Sean Connery, Ralph Richardson.
C- 117 mins, CC
11:30 PM
KEY LARGO (1948)
A returning veteran tangles with a ruthless gangster during a hurricane.
Dir: John Huston Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall.
BW- 100 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – May 8
1:30 AM
BULLETS OR BALLOTS (1936)
A cop goes undercover to crack an influential crime ring.
Dir: William Keighley Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Blondell, Barton MacLane.
BW- 82 mins, CC
4:30 AM
TWO SECONDS (1932)
In the last moments of his life, a criminal reviews the circumstances that led him to death row.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Vivienne Osborne, Guy Kibbee.
BW- 67 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – May 9
11:00 AM
THE THIRD MAN (1949)
A man’s investigation of a friend’s death uncovers corruption in post-World War II Vienna.
Dir: Carol Reed Cast: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles.
BW- 105 mins, CC
11:00 PM
MILDRED PIERCE (1945)
A woman turns herself into a business tycoon to win her selfish daughter a place in society.
Dir: Michael Curtiz Cast: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott.
BW- 111 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – May 10
9:00 AM
MILDRED PIERCE (1945)
A woman turns herself into a business tycoon to win her selfish daughter a place in society.
Dir: Michael Curtiz Cast: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott.
BW- 111 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – May 12
8:00 AM
UNDERCURRENT (1946)
A sheltered woman realizes that either her husband or his mysterious brother is a psychopath.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Robert Taylor, Robert Mitchum.
BW- 116 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Wednesday – May 13
7:00 PM
THE CRIMSON KIMONO (1959)
Two detectives clash over the hunt for a stripper’s killer in Los Angeles’ Japanese district.
Dir: Samuel Fuller Cast: Victoria Shaw, Glenn Corbett, James Shigeta.
BW- 81 mins, CC
8:30 PM
HOUSE OF BAMBOO (1955)
An Army investigator infiltrates a Tokyo crime syndicate to solve a colleague’s murder.
Dir: Samuel Fuller Cast: Robert Ryan, Robert Stack, Shirley Yamaguchi.
C- 103 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – May 14
7:15 AM
ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT (1942)
A criminal gang turns patriotic to track down a Nazi spy ring.
Dir: Vincent Sherman Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Conrad Veidt, Kaaren Verne.
BW- 107 mins, CC
3:15 PM
THE RETURN OF DOCTOR X (1939)
A murderer returns from the grave with a thirst for blood.
Dir: Vincent Sherman Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Rosemary Lane, Wayne Morris.
BW- 62 mins, CC
8:45 PM
A SLIGHT CASE OF MURDER (1938)
A gangster finds the straight life ain’t so simple.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Jane Bryan, Allen Jenkins.
BW- 85 mins, CC
10:30 PM
LARCENY, INC. (1942)
An ex-convict and his gang try to use a luggage store to front a bank robbery, but business keeps getting in the way.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Jane Wyman, Broderick Crawford.
BW- 95 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – May 15
12:15 AM
THE AMAZING DR. CLITTERHOUSE (1938)
A doctor plots crimes so he can study criminal psychology.
Dir: Anatole Litvak Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Claire Trevor, Humphrey Bogart.
BW- 87 mins, CC
5:00 AM
HOTEL RESERVE (1946)
An Austrian refugee tries to figure out which guest at a French resort is a spy.
Dir: Victor Hanbury Cast: James Mason, Lucie Mannheim, Raymond Lovell.
BW- 79 mins, CC
4:30 PM
NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
An advertising man is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Cast: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason.
C- 136 mins, CC
7:00 PM
RANSOM! (1956)
A wealthy couple tries to cope with the press and the police when their son is kidnapped.
Dir: Alex Segal Cast: Glenn Ford, Donna Reed, Leslie Nielsen.
BW- 102 mins, CC
9:00 PM
CAPE FEAR (1962)
An ex-convict plots to destroy the district attorney who sent him to prison.
Dir: J. Lee Thompson Cast: Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen.
BW- 106 mins, CC
11:00 PM
THE NIGHT HOLDS TERROR (1955)
Escaped convicts take over a suburban home.
Dir: Andrew Stone Cast: Jack Kelly, Hildy Parks, Vince Edwards.
BW- 86 mins, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – May 16
1:15 PM
OUT OF THE PAST (1947)
A private eye becomes the dupe of a homicidal moll.
Dir: Jacques Tourneur Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas.
BW- 97 mins, CC
11:00 PM
THE CRIMSON KIMONO (1959)
Two detectives clash over the hunt for a stripper’s killer in Los Angeles’ Japanese district.
Dir: Samuel Fuller Cast: Victoria Shaw, Glenn Corbett, James Shigeta.
BW- 81 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – May 17
9:00 AM
THE CRIMSON KIMONO (1959)
Two detectives clash over the hunt for a stripper’s killer in Los Angeles’ Japanese district.
Dir: Samuel Fuller Cast: Victoria Shaw, Glenn Corbett, James Shigeta.
BW- 81 mins, CC
11:00 AM
THE NAKED CITY (1948)
A step-by-step look at a murder investigation on the streets of New York.
Dir: Jules Dassin Cast: Barry Fitzgerald, Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart.
BW- 96 mins, CC
5:15 PM
NIAGARA (1953)
Honeymooners get mixed up with an obsessive husband and his cheating wife.
Dir: Henry Hathaway Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters.
C- 89 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Monday – May 18
6:15 AM
DOCTOR X (1932)
A reporter investigates a series of cannibalistic murders at a medical college.
Dir: Michael Curtiz Cast: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Lee Tracy.
C- 76 mins, CC
7:45 AM
THE MURDER OF DR. HARRIGAN (1936)
A doctor investigates the murder of a colleague involved in experimental surgery.
Dir: Frank McDonald Cast: Ricardo Cortez, Kay Linaker, John Eldredge.
BW- 67 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – May 19
8:15 AM
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962)
A crazed, aging star torments her sister in a decaying Hollywood mansion.
Dir: Robert Aldrich Cast: Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono.
BW- 134 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – May 21
3:00 PM
NIGHT MUST FALL (1937)
A charming young man worms his way into a wealthy woman’s household, then reveals a deadly secret.
Dir: Richard Thorpe Cast: Merle Tottenham, Kathleen Harrison, Dame May Whitty.
BW- 116 mins, CC
5:00 PM
LADY IN THE LAKE (1947)
Philip Marlowe searches for a missing woman in this mystery shot entirely from the detective’s viewpoint.
Dir: Robert Montgomery Cast: Robert Montgomery, Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan.
BW- 103 mins, CC
10:30 PM
DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
An insurance salesman gets seduced into plotting a client’s death.
Dir: Billy Wilder Cast: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson.
BW- 108 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – May 22
12:30 AM
THE STRANGER (1946)
A small-town schoolteacher suspects her new husband may be an escaped Nazi war criminal.
Dir: Orson Welles Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Orson Welles.
BW- 95 mins, CC
4:15 AM
ILLEGAL (1955)
A DA falls apart when his machinations send an innocent man to the chair.
Dir: Lewis Allen Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Nina Foch, Hugh Marlowe.
BW- 88 mins, CC
6:00 AM
BLACKMAIL (1939)
A man in prison on false charges escapes to save his family from a blackmailer.
Dir: H. C. Potter Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Ruth Hussey, Gene Lockhart.
BW- 81 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – May 23
11:00 PM
CORNERED (1946)
A World War II veteran hunts down the Nazi collaborators who killed his wife.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk Cast: Dick Powell, Walter Slezak, Micheline Cheirel.
BW- 103 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – May 24
9:00 AM
CORNERED (1946)
A World War II veteran hunts down the Nazi collaborators who killed his wife.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk Cast: Dick Powell, Walter Slezak, Micheline Cheirel.
BW- 103 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Tuesday – May 26
9:00 AM
THE LADY VANISHES (1938)
A young woman on vacation triggers an international incident when she tries to track an elderly friend who has disappeared.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Cast: Margaret Lockwood, Michael Redgrave, Paul Lukas.
BW- 96 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Thursday – May 28
10:30 AM
TOO LATE FOR TEARS (1949)
A married woman’s discovery of stolen money changes her character for the worse.
Dir: Byron Haskin Cast: Lizabeth Scott, Don DeFore, Dan Duryea.
BW- 101 mins, CC
9:00 PM
THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW (1944)
A seductive woman gets an innocent professor mixed up in murder.
Dir: Fritz Lang Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey.
BW- 99 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Friday – May 29
9:45 AM
A STOLEN LIFE (1946)
A twin takes her deceased sister’s place as wife of the man they both love.
Dir: Curtis Bernhardt Cast: Bette Davis, Glenn Ford, Dane Clark.
BW- 107 mins, CC
7:00 PM
PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (1953)
A petty thief accidentally steals a communist spy’s purse.
Dir: Samuel Fuller Cast: Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter.
BW- 80 mins, CC
10:30 PM
NIAGARA (1953)
Honeymooners get mixed up with an obsessive husband and his cheating wife.
Dir: Henry Hathaway Cast: Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters.
C- 89 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
Saturday – May 30
12:30 AM
DARK SHADOWS (1944)
This short film focuses on a psychiatrist investigating the murder of another psychiatrist.
Dir: Walter Hart Cast: Dorothy Adams, John Vosper, Paul Langton.
BW- 22 mins
7:28 AM
GENIUS AT WORK (1947)
Two radio sleuths tackle a real murder case.
Dir: Leslie Goodwins Cast: Wally Brown, Alan Carney, Anne Jeffreys.
BW- 61 mins
11:15 PM
A KISS BEFORE DYING (1956)
A college student tries to get rich quick by wooing two wealthy sisters.
Dir: Gerd Oswald Cast: Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Virginia Leith.
C- 95 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
Sunday – May 31
9:00 AM
A KISS BEFORE DYING (1956)
A college student tries to get rich quick by wooing two wealthy sisters.
Dir: Gerd Oswald Cast: Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Virginia Leith.
C- 95 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
11:00 AM
THE LETTER (1940)
A woman claims to have killed in self-defense, until a blackmailer turns up with incriminating evidence.
Dir: William Wyler Cast: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson.
BW- 95 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
If you’re really looking forward to these or other mystery-themed tv specials coming up in May, be sure to leave a comment below!
In case you’re interested in seeing the rest of this month’s television mystery movies, here’s the February 2020 television mystery movies schedule:
Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for April 2020 on Turner Classic Movies channel
And here is the page on my site with plenty of entries about movies and television shows you may enjoy:
Cozy Mystery List TV and Movie Section – all you have to do is click on the link to go to that page on my site.
(The above movie descriptions were taken off the TCM website.)
First let me say that my husband absolutely loves Charles Dickens. I, however, find a lot of his novels very sad and dark. The downtrodden seem to always be made more oppressed. With that in mind, I must admit that I wasn’t all that keen to watch the Bleak House miniseries. However, having watched Gillian Anderson as she portrayed Scully in the X Files, I decided, why not! Imagine my surprise when I watched it and loved it!